Ole Miss Coach Lane Kiffin Has 'High Hopes' For Pair of Elite 2025 Signees

Ole Miss Rebels coach Lane Kiffin is expecting big things out of his 2025 class, including from a couple of key pieces on offense.

Nov 9, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin reacts during the second half against the Georgia Bulldogs at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The Ole Miss Rebels' roster (like many others in college football) will look different next season than it did in 2024, but head coach Lane Kiffin has high hopes for some of the new pieces his program brought in on Early Signing Day.

The crown jewel of the class was five-star wide receiver Caleb Cunningham out of Choctaw County High School in Ackerman, Mississippi. Cunningham was rated as the No. 3 receiver in the country in this class and the top player within the Magnolia State.

With multiple big names departing from the wide receiver room this offseason (Tre Harris, Juice Wells, etc.), having a young 6-foot-2 frame on the field could pay quick dividends for Ole Miss next season behind the leadership of quarterback Austin Simmons. That's why when Cunningham flipped his commitment from Alabama to Ole Miss last month, it made national headlines.

"He could be huge," Kiffin said of Cunningham in a Wednesday press conference. "That was really big. He's a great player that one point looked like he was leaving the state. Got him back. Great kid, great family, and at a position of need next year with losing so much there. We have very high expectations for him."

Another key offensive piece who could make an early impact in Oxford is four-star running back Shekai Mills-Knight out of the Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Mills-Knight was committed to the Rebels for months before he signed on Wednesday, but his potential production could be huge for an offense that struggled in the short-yardage run game in 2024.

Mills-Knight measures in at 6-foot-1 and 215 pounds, making him a powerful option in the backfield.

"I think he's got tremendous upside," Kiffin said. "Really big, physical running back, which we missed this year not having. As you re-look at the year, I think that was a big difference in a lot of critical situations. We have high hopes for him."

As of Wednesday night, Ole Miss' 2025 class is ranked 15th in the country, per On3.